Articles by Jonathan Stempel

Motel 6 Pays $7.6M to Settle Class Action Over Giving Guest Lists to Immigration Agents

Motel 6 will pay up to $7.6 million to Hispanic guests to settle a proposed class-action lawsuit claiming that it violated their privacy by regularly providing guest lists to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. Terms of the preliminary …

Thai Soccer Boys’ Cave Rescuer Sues Musk for Defamation

Elon Musk, the chief executive of Tesla Inc., was sued for defamation on Monday for falsely suggesting that a British caver who helped rescue 12 boys and their soccer coach from a Thailand cave in July was a pedophile and …

Roy Moore Files $95M Defamation Suit Against CBS, Comedian Cohen

Roy Moore, the former U.S. Senate candidate from Alabama, on Wednesday filed a $95 million defamation lawsuit against Sacha Baron Cohen, claiming he was duped into appearing on the British comedian’s Showtime series “Who Is America?” and falsely portrayed as …

Barnes & Noble Calls Fired CEO’s Defamation Claims ‘Lies and Mischaracterizations’

Barnes & Noble Inc. was sued on Tuesday by a former chief executive officer who said the largest U.S. bookstore chain falsely accused him of violating its sexual harassment policy before firing him after 14 months on the job. In …

Google Accused of Illegally Tracking, Violating Privacy of Smartphone Users

Google has been accused in a lawsuit of illegally tracking the movements of millions of iPhone and Android phone users even when they use a privacy setting to prevent it. According to a complaint filed late Friday, Google falsely assures …

New York Sues OxyContin Maker Purdue Pharma Over Opioids

New York state on Tuesday sued Purdue Pharma LP, accusing the OxyContin maker of widespread fraud and deception in the marketing of opioids, and contributing to a nationwide epidemic that has killed thousands. The state blamed Purdue for running what …

Court Orders Pruitt’s EPA to Reverse Course and Ban Crop Pesticide

A divided federal appeals court on Thursday ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to ban a widely-used pesticide that critics say can endanger children and farmers. The 2-1 decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Seattle overturned …

Lyft Faces Patent Suit by Professor Over Ridesharing Model

A retired Georgia Institute of Technology engineering professor described as a “pioneer” in developing the idea of ridesharing sued Lyft Inc., claiming it infringed his patent for technology underlying the core of its business model. According to the complaint, Lyft …

Court to Revisit Dismissal of $210 Million Hyundai-Kia Fuel Economy Settlement

A U.S. appeals court will reconsider its decision to throw out a $210 million nationwide class-action settlement for owners of Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp. vehicles whose fuel economy was inflated. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals …

First Facebook Investor Suit Filed Over Plunge in Shares

Facebook Inc. and its chief executive Mark Zuckerberg were sued on Friday in what could be the first of many lawsuits over a disappointing earnings announcement by the social media company that wiped out about $120 billion of shareholder wealth. …